


It's About Time

by Fledgeling_Archangel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Ending, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Canon Compliant, Castiel/Dean Winchester One Shot, Dean Winchester Prays to Castiel, Destiel - Freeform, Fix-It, Happy Ending, Hopeful Ending, I Don't Even Know, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I think?, One Shot, POV Dean Winchester, Season/Series 15, it's a destiel ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:47:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27701585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fledgeling_Archangel/pseuds/Fledgeling_Archangel
Summary: Dean couldn't just let him go. Not after what he said.An alternate ending post Despair and Inherit the Earth. Destiel, because obvious reasons.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	It's About Time

Dean Winchester hadn’t set foot in that dungeon since the night that he lost Cas.  
Maybe it was because he hadn’t the time- defeating the Almighty was rather time consuming. And of course, there was Dean’s own project.  
Maybe it was because there was no reason to, what with all the demons keeping a low profile. (Their latest success had really screamed ‘don’t mess with us’)  
Or maybe it was because he couldn’t bring himself see the place where Cas had last stood. Where he sacrificed himself. Where he said those words.  
But tonight, tonight was different. After many months of relentless drinking, of hunting until he collapsed, of bottling up every heart wrenching emotion from that night- He was ready.  
Maybe it was because Sam away with Eileen, so there was no one to witness the breakdown if something went wrong.  
Maybe it was because he was finally ready to accept what happened.  
But the truth was, it wasn’t either of those things. Those months, those terrible, lonely months- they were not spent in vain. No. Cas wouldn’t want that. Those months were spent scouring the globe for books, ingredients, spells, ideas. He pulled on every thread he knew in the world of the supernatural, and finally, finally, something came loose.  
So he worked. And he hunted. And he planned. And he opened the door of the dungeon.  
Because for the first time in a long, long time, Dean Winchester had hope.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬  
He was about halfway through the symbols when he started praying.  
“Hey, C-… Cas.”  
The first words were hoarse, fighting the swell of emotion that rose up inside.  
“I don’t know if you can hear me, but… you did before, huh?”  
His hands shook on the spray can.  
“I’m sorry I haven’t prayed. I- I couldn’t. Not when I thought you were gone.” He forced the words out. “Maybe this is stupid. The Empty took you. And you, you stupid son of a bitch, you let it.”  
He felt the anger rising. The old Dean would have let it loose, would have spewed out whatever toxic thoughts and emotions came his way. It was because of Cas that he was different now. He controlled it. It wasn’t his driving force anymore.  
His voice evened out.  
“So maybe you can’t hear me at all. But I’m gonna say it all anyway, because if this doesn’t work, I never will.  
But I think this will work Cas. This one last plan, I think it might just work”  
He shook the can, and finished the symbols with his hand as steady as a rock.

The candles were next. He placed them carefully around the pentagram on the dungeon floor, and flicked on his trusty lighter.  
“Y’know Cas, we have had some crazy-ass plans over the years. Remember when we stuck Dick Roman with a tree branch? How bout’ when you ended that dickbag Metatron using a frickin’ intercom system? I’m not even gonna mention the family counselling between the Devil and Lord.”  
One by one the candles were lit.  
“But this, I’m proud of this. I know you missed the good parts, but I’ll give you the Cliff Notes version. Jack managed to suck up all the God power after he lost his own. See, it reminded me of that crystal thing that Rowena had. What if I got something like that? Took a little slice of God power for myself.”  
Walking over to his pile of equipment, he pulled out a box, and from the box, a small hunk of crystal. It was pulsing with a soft blue light.  
“You missed this too, but Chuck just yanked Lucifer out of the Empty. Pretty lame move if you ask me, but it got me thinking. God power can pierce the Empty and save angels. So, I started a little side project. Even Sam didn’t know, and that Sasquatch knows everything. I found the crystal that I needed – this crystal - in the bunker. I had it in my jacket when God got his ass handed to him. It got powered up, just like that. Suddenly I had a battery, and all I needed was a way to use it.”  
Walking over to the far wall, Dean jammed the crystal into a rough hole he had hewn earlier. He took a quick step back to make sure it was right, before going back to the table. He began measuring out ingredients.  
“Okay, so it turns out that took longer than expected. I went to Ohio, Cas, Ohio, to get this ritual. I killed a lot of evil bastards; I drove hundreds of miles… I even stopped by hell to ask Rowena if it work. She says hi, by the way. She seemed weirdly supportive of my plan, just like everyone else I’ve gone to.”  
Dean dumped the ingredients together in the ritual bowl and set it down in the centre of the pentagram. He straightened up and cast an eye over everything, triple checking it was perfect.  
“I think everyone knows how much the world needs you back, Cas.  
“How much I need you back. “

Seven months, nineteen days and about four hours after Cas disappeared into the Empty, Dean Winchester was ready.  
He had talked to Sam. Told him where he was going. Over the phone, of course, so Sam couldn’t follow. This was something he needed to do alone.  
He walked the perimeter of the room, tracing the symbols with one hand, as he finished his prayer.  
“You said a lot of things that night, Cas. Things I couldn’t process in time.  
I have a lot of anger in me, and a lot of hate. And what I’m doing now…? You’re at peace, Cas, so maybe what I’m doing is pretty damn selfish. But you were right. I don’t know how you saw it, I don’t know how you made me see it, but I do the things I do for love. I don’t think I understood it at the time, but I do now. Because what I’m doing right here, right now…  
… I know I’m doing it for love”  
Dean slid his jacket on, stuffed his gun and an angel blade in his belt.  
“Y’know Cas- “a small smile graced his lips, “the night we met, back in that barn… do you remember what the first thing you said to me was? Before the wings, before the angel of the lord speech that you had clearly rehearsed- You said that you were the one who raised me from perdition. You were the one who rescued me from hell.”  
Dean pulled out a match and struck it. He watched the tiny drop of fire dance, muttered those precious Enochian words, and tossed it into the ritual bowl.  
Iridescent flames roared in front of him, sparks bursting over his head. The symbols along the walls, painstaking painted, suddenly began to glow white-hot. The crystal, embedded in the far wall, radiated blue light before shattering, causing a sharp, black rift to appear in the wall. Inside, there was nothing but darkness.  
“Well, Cas” Dean Winchester rolled his shoulders and strode towards the rift, the gateway to the Empty, to where his true happiness awaited.  
“I think it’s about time I return the favour”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thanks for clicking on my random fic. This is just a scene that entered my head and wouldn't leave.  
> It's hopeful and it's happy, because that's what these idiots deserve.  
> I hope you enjoyed it?. I'd love to hear what you think!  
> -Em


End file.
